Hello I am new here.

Hello there. I have been looking around for a site like this. Please don't poke fun but I had never heard of scanlation until a few days ago and that is the primary reason I am here. I think I would like to join such a group in the near future. Aside from that, though, I want to get into manga. I've basically only read the adaptation to 5 Centimeters Per Second and this other piece I own that is really cool. I can't recall the name of it but it is set at an elementary school where all sorts of fantastical things happen. One character often wears a box on his head and the main character is friends with an elderly groundskeeper. Any suggestions as to what I should read next are more than welcome. Well this is me saying hello and I hope to get to know this place well in the future.

The more I look around the more I get the feeling scanlation isn't legitimate. I thought it was. Are there authentic channels for this? I am pretty clueless on the whole thing. I know of one place that seems to let people do this legitimately but I am not sure if I can mention it here. Also I don't know if they are a scam or not. I just have a lot of questions about all this but I am not sure where/if I can ask them. Does anyone know?

Scanlations aren't legal for the most part. But they aren't illegal either. When series are licensed, some groups tend to drop them to avoid trouble. Before that, there is nobody to sue you. There's no international law regarding unlicensed manga. Nobody really cares about scanlating as it is not a big business. Nobody in the field has enough power and money to become the law, at least outside of the country of origin.Go ahead and keep reading. As for legal scanlation sites, no idea, don't use those. Think I have heard of stuff like that, but what do I care? Scanlation is a good way to gain exposure for the author. There are no ramifications. Everybody wins.

Ah thanks for the response, that helps a lot. I can see that there's not much money in it, but the (apparently) legitimate avenues interest me because it can be used as experience when trying to work for a manga company later on?